Silent Echo
by burry and bunny
Summary: Rated T to be safe. The tragic life of Eris Eilas, and how it became less of a tragedy at Whammy's. Read as Eris makes friends, goes through stuggles and fears, and tries to understand life. OC/?  possibly   R&R:
1. My Name is Echo

I'm a quiet person. I know it's true. I can't help if I'm quiet. I want to be loud, and be happy—why do I have to be scared? Since I know I'm scared, you'd think it'd be east to stop it, right? Well, it's easy to say that now, but when the nerves kick in, I'm sure it'll be that easy. It's simply easier this way, if I'm alone I don't have to burden anyone and I don't have to be afraid anymore. So… I'll just stay locked up, unless it's absolutely necessary for me to leave. Like I said, easier said than done.

& \`~`/&

"This girl… has been through a lot. Poor kid," The officer put gave the files to the doctor, who re-read the files over. The officer sighed, going over what he read through his head.

"Yeah, well, an escort is supposed to come and take her to an orphanage—Whammy's house, was it? Should be here soon," Said the other man with a serious face. "Apparently, she is a genius, and is going to a gifted orphanage. But poor kid, looks like shes going to piss her pants," He looked at her with sympathetic eyes, but didn't go anywhere near her.

She stared right at the officer who was staring back at her. He had look of pity on his face, and she wondered why. She wanted nothing more than to ask the man why he would stare at her that way, with a look so foreign, an emotion she had only seen once, for a small moment she was hardly even sure if that _was_ the same look. She wanted to ask, but couldn't. Her mouth was clamped tight, her throat dry and her limbs shaking as though they were holding a two hundred pound wrestler. She wondered if this was all just a dream, and she was almost positive it was. She would wake up in no time, and the small glimmer of hope she had would be shattered and become irreparable. _But it already is…_

She didn't have anywhere to go; she had no idea why she was still here. _Wouldn't they take me to another orphanage? _She had been in the hospital room for a little over a day, and it had been a frightful experience, all she wished was to leave. She recalled several all that happened in the past day and wasn't sure if she was happy or not_. Relived? Yes. Scared? Yes_.

She held her journal to her chest, and peered out the window. _Children's Memorial Hospital_. She recalled coming here a few times with her mom, who was getting monthly ultrasounds on her baby. She flinched slightly at the memories, and concentrated on the rainy weather outside. It was unusually rainy and wet outside. It was fall time, and all she wished was to step outside, into the fresh air, and step into the squishy leaves, something she hadn't done for over nine years.

Her mind drifted over to what happened when she was first brought here. _There was an officer next to her the whole time. He was a nice looking man, with slightly curly brown hair and green puppy-looking eyes. He looked to be in his mid thirties, though he looked sick with his pale skin and his slightly slouchy posture. Despite how sick and tired he looked, he still had a warm spark in his eyes, and she knew she could trust him. When they went into the room, one of the nurses came in, and escorted the officer out. The young girl started shaking and looked as though she would die of fright at any moment. But it all was pushed too far with the nurse had all but tapped her on the shoulder. All she remembered was loud screams, a prick in her wrist, and then she passed out. _That was the only time the nurses went in the room. Unless to drop off food, which they put by the door to let her get herself. She didn't eat it of course, but the nurses said nothing, only _tsk'ed_ then left.

The door opened then closed, and the scared girl took her eyes away from the window. By the doorway was an old looking man who looked… Japanese? He had grey-white hair and a smile on his face that reached his eyes, which somehow… twinkled? He wore a black suit that looked expensive, and the girl wondered if this man had adopted her. Surely he was too old. Next to him was the officer. Officer Kreg. He smiled and said, "Eris, this man is going to take you to an orphanage called Whammy's House. You can trust him,"

The older man walked towards the girl known as Eris, who flinched at each step he took closer. She was trying her very hardest not to scream in fright, despite what Officer Kreg said, she was still scared. "Eris, I am here to escort you to Whammy's House. I am Watari," He smiled.

She nodded, and clutched her journal closer to her chest, waiting for him to say anything else. "I understand you were given a test, which had proven you IQ to be higher than average. Whammy's House is an orphanage for gifted children who are smarter than the average person." With this said, Eris nodded, though he probably though it was just her shaking still. She thought about it, and remembered just how hard the test was for her. She wouldn't be lying if she said she thought really hard for the whole process. It made her wonder how she would get by at a place like that. The thought made her grimace.

"… And we shall be leaving now, if you are ready. I will be waiting outside the room," And with that, he and the officer left.

Eris thought things over and sighed. She stood up from the hospital bed and picked up her book-bag, and held onto her journal for dear life. She looked out the window once more, _Can I finally go outside?_

& \`~`/&

As they stepped off the privet plane, Eris saw yet another limo, obviously for them. They were in England now, and Eris was pondering over a new name. As Watari had told her, she needed an alias. She liked her name a lot. It was the name her parents gave her, and she will always remember it that way... But that didn't mean she could go without an alias. She thought a while, and looked out the window as she did. She had her journal next to her on the black leather seats, but still made sure that she could still feel it resting by her thigh.

"Echo,"

The one word did just that, as the vibrations bounced off the walls of the quiet car. Watari would admit he jumped at the sound of her voice. He didn't expect her to talk for a while. "Hmm?"

"Echo," she repeated, "My name is Echo,"

Watari smiled, and stared ahead. Nothing else said for the rest of the car ride.

& \`~`/&

_The young child's innocent laughter blended in with the sharp autumn winds that blew. Her parents smiled, resting on the park bench, watching her slowly tire out. The young girl walked up to her parents and laid her head on the bench. They all sat there, enjoying the crisp fall breeze. Fall was almost over, and winter was well on its way. Weather getting colder and colder as the days passed by. _

_The man picked up his daughter, who smiled slightly, pretending to be asleep. The woman waddled over to the man, her husband. "James, she's kicking," She wrapped her hand around her bulging belly and smiled, "My baby…"_

_The man known as James smiled, "Just two more months, Laya. Our baby…"_

_When the family arrived at their small home, Laya had sat on the couch while James brought his supposedly sleeping daughter to her room. He kissed her forehead and tucked her in. As soon as he closed the door, she peaked open an eye, and jumped out of bed._

Now_, she thought, _I can play for hours while they think I'm asleep_. She grinned and went to her toy chest. _

_._

A/N- Aaaannd that concludes chapter one! Woo, 1381 words. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not.

If you're reading this, then give me some feedback, yeah? Tell me what you like, what you don't. Was the chapter length short or too long? Any kind of feedback would be great. I know I'm not the best writer, but I want to get better, and I can't too that on my own, can I? :)

This is just an introductory chapter. And I just got back into writing, so I may be little rusty (sucky) for now! I'm still not sure if my OC should be with someone or not…

As for the story in general, I have no idea what I'm really doing, and that probably isn't a good thing… But I'll just improvise:D

Music I listened to while writing: I Will Follow You Into The Dark :Death Cab for Cutie, and Nuvole Bianche :Ludovico Einaudi.

Anyways, that concludes chapter one of Silent Echo. I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading it:) If you have time, please review.


	2. Mute

This is a time for me to start fresh. No one knows me, everyone here is a genius; I guess I am too, huh? No one knows this shy girl, and it's my time to break free from her. But… Honestly if you were expecting that, then you really must not know me. Not that anyone knows me_. I'll…_ _be alone forever, I guess…_

She thought it was upsetting. How this orphanage was only for smart kids. Why do they have to be put somewhere else because they're different? But then again… would it be considered better? For all those kids to be put together, and have people who are like them around them. She decided to drop it, and just be indifferent on the whole subject. Her opinion didn't matter on this subject anyways.

The car stopped in front of the big estate, and Eris thought the place looked so big and fancy. She went out of the car after Watari, and looked into the afternoon sky. She was sure this wasn't a dream anymore. But her lack of hope was still gone; she assumed it wouldn't be coming back anymore.

Watari took her inside, and brought to an office that had another man in it. He had white hair and a slightly tired face. When he noticed the opened door, he glanced at Eris and then Watari, "This is her?" To which Watari nodded, and walked in further. He murmured some things to the un-introduced man, and then went back to Eris.

"I am afraid I am going to have to leave a bit earlier than expected. This man is Roger, who is the head of Whammy's House; he will help you when needed," Eris nodded, but still remained shaking uncontrollably, "Goodbye, Roger. Echo," and with that, he left.

After he left, the man, Roger, smiled warmly at Eris, "Echo is your new name?" She nodded, still too scared to speak. "You must not give your real name to anyone, or ask for anyone's real name. This is an important rule. From now on, you are known as Echo, not Eris Eilas," She nodded again. "Good. I will take you to your assigned room. After putting your things away, you may look around if you'd like,"

She nodded, and the rest of the way was silent, as she tried to memorize her way to her room. "Here is your room. At the moment there is no one else in this room, but you maybe get a roommate sometime in the future. Dinner is at 6:30, breakfast at 8:00, and lunch at 1:00," He said he'd see her later, and left to herself.

Eris sighed, put her book-bag on her bed, and dumped out the contents. Inside consisted on three outfits, one pair of underwear and bras, three pairs of socks, and one pair of shoes. She also had three notebooks, four pencils (two mechanical, one charcoal, and graphite), and small stuffed cow. In a smaller pocket, she had pills the doctor had given her, reading the label it said: Lentizol. The doctor was kind enough to not put her name on it; she assumed Watari had told him or something.

Eris wondered around the estate, looking at other people, some younger, some older. They all scared her none the less. She had found three different libraries, all so vast; she wondered if there were even enough books in the world to fit in them all. But, one thing that caught her attention was the music room. In there were different instruments, and what she saw had made her little more happy: The baby grand piano in the far right corner of the room. She walked up to it, the sliding noise her shoes made echoing through the empty room. She wondered if it was okay to play it, but thought Roger would have told her if she couldn't.

She sat herself quietly on the bench, putting her journal next to her, and positioned her hands. She paused, and wondered how much she actually remembered. The loud sound of the piano overflowed the music room. The tune sounded both eerie and distressing together, and she played; expressing how she felt into the music. Hesitating not once, and forgetting the fear that filled her mind. Forgetting it all until the end, where she stuttered on the keys forgetting what to play next. _How did it end…?_

She stopped playing all together, and the silence screamed in her ears; not that she _wasn't_ used to the cries that silence gave her. Looking at the clock she saw it said 6: 27 PM, and her stomach decided she should go down for dinner… Until she realized she didn't know _where_ that was. She thought she could follow someone discreetly, so she wouldn't have to trouble them.

She saw a boy and a girl walking and listened to their conversation, wondering if they would go to dinner. "Mmhmm, that's fascinating, Mells," The boy who spoke wore a black and white striped shirt, and held a DS in his gloved hands.

"…And then _fucking Near_ was right there!" Eris shook her head, that voice was _not_ feminine at all. That guy was prettier than _her_! He sighed, "Whatever, let's just go to dinner," At that, Eris jumped and decided to follow them from a distance. They didn't notice her, as the blonde had been too busy ranting on this Near person to notice her… That is, until he turned around to look at her and said, "If you needed help getting somewhere, you could've just asked,"

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed the saliva that formed in her mouth, trying to bring down the nerves she had as well. The way he talked made her wonder if he was naturally a mean person; but either way, she felt terrified when he stared straight at her with his icy stare. She mumbled an apology so quietly, even she wondered if she actually said it or not. She looked down, away from his gaze, and tried to shrink away.

"Come on Mello, I'm hungry," The red head hadn't taken his eyes off the game, as he unintentionally saved Eris from a heart attack.

The pretty boy know as Mello started to walk away with the red head trailing behind as he called out, "You comin' or not?" She didn't want to miss out on dinner, so she followed with her head down the whole way.

After picking a medium sized sandwich, she realized she didn't have anywhere to sit. And she most definitely didn't want to bother those two boys again.

She saw a pale looking girl sitting at the far back of the dining hall alone. Eris walked up to the table and stood there, sandwich and water bottle in hand, and waited for the girl to notice her. The pale girl took out a notepad and quickly wrote on it, "_You may sit here if you want," _In pretty cursive.

Eris put her sandwich down and began eat, just as the pale girl was. The dining hall was loud and many different conversations filled Eris's ears. She quickly ate her food, in a rush to leave back to the quite of her room.

The hallway was empty; she assumed most people would rather talk with their friends the stay in their room.

Her room was plain; having a bunk bed, two dressers, and a medium sized desk with nothing on it. The walls were white and the floors a light wood.

She took out the bottle of pills for her bag, and took one of them, sipping her water so as not to have choked. As she closed the cap, she heard a knock on her door and dropped the bottle out of her hand and onto the floor, jumping at the loud noise. She opened her door and saw the pale girl from dinner. She tilted her head to the side silently questioning the girl as to why she was there. The girl handed her a piece of paper that said:

_I had followed you from dinner because you had looked lonely and new. I was wondering if __yuo __you__wanted to be friend? _

Eris looked at the small girl in front of her, and hesitated. Did she really want a friend? Was she even capable of being a good friend… if all she did was cower away? She looked at her once more, she saw the shy posture of her small figure, and how she used paper and a pen to communicate. Eris could only assume she was incapable of speaking and, therefore, probably wasn't the most popular of people.

But that was just an assumption.

She bobbed her head once, and noticed that the blonde girls blue eyes had sparked for a few seconds—and a few seconds only. She quickly jotted on her small notepad and handed it to Eris.

_I am Mute. May I please come into your room?_

Eris moved out of the doorway, and closed it slightly, but leaving it slightly ajar still. "I'm Echo," She sat herself on the ground next to the girl who was kneeling across from her. The room was quiet, and neither of them spoke. Mute being unable to, and Eris not used to speaking.

Scribbling could be heard and she showed her paper to Eris. _Do you have something you are able to do?_

Eris didn't get her question, and showed her confusion with a small hesitant, '_hmmm…?'_

_Well, Matt plays video games, Linda is an artist, Near is always solving puzzles, I write. _

Eris understood what she was saying and nodded, "I- I play the piano… though I haven't played in n-nearly 10 years," She sighed, and stared at the floor. The blue eyed girl scribbled something on her notepad, and stood up. She ripped the paper out and handed it to Eris.

_Good bye, Echo. I shall see you tomorrow._

Eris nodded her head and smiled at Mute. She left, walking in a shy manner, and closed Eris's door. She sat down on her bed and picked up her tattered stuffed cow. She gave it squeeze and chuckled lightly, _she had a friend. And she wasn't frightened. _

_A/N: Well, this is it. I had a difficult time trying to come up with a way to end this chapter. I know I haven't really introduced the Whammy boys yet, but I'm trying to make this story seem realistic in some way. I wasn't even to sure on the idea of adding Mute in the story yet… :/_

_Though I would also like to say thanks to: __ShootingStar02 and MahuruRaji, for putting this on their favorite or alerts list. So… Thanks guys! :) _

_If you were curious as to what the melody that Eris played sounded I like, think of Victor's Piano Solo by Danny Elfman:)_

_Music for this chapter_: Ningyo Hime by Rie Tanaka_ and Voile, _The Magic Library- Josh Agarrado's transcribed version.

_Also, don't be too upset, I'll probably add Matt and or Mello in the next chapter. So, see ya then!_

_Burry-chan_


End file.
